There is really no such thing as “locker room talk.” Guys who try to banter this way are just hoping no one hears the note of desperate striving in their voices. Most of them haven’t been in a real locker room since they were in high school, which is probably why Donald Trump’s snickering conversation with the sycophant Billy Bush sounded more like sauna chatter between a couple of junior brokers. Here’s the problem with that kind of talk: It’s not the talk of leaders; it’s the talk of bandwagoners and wannabes who are trying to make some invisible Man Team.

“This was locker room talk,” Trump said in Sunday night’s Presidential debate. “This was locker room talk. I’m not proud of it .?.?. This was locker room talk. Yes, I’m very embarrassed by it, and I hate it, but it’s locker room talk.”

Fine. Give Trump the benefit of the doubt that his remarks caught on that hot mic from Access Hollywood about crotch-grabbing women were just words, and not actions worthy of arrest. It’s all just locker room talk. But whether it’s uttered by a trader, lawyer, doctor, football player, or a political candidate, “locker room talk” is a creepy cliché. It’s the talk of someone trying to assert that they belong. - WashingtonPost